Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Make These Cookies NOW.

I discovered this recipe while living in San Jose, California. A woman in my ward (Hi Denise!) ran a little business out of her home; she was an amazing cook. One of those people who just has the gift, you know? She shared this recipe with me, and it has been my mainstay cookie recipe for a good 10 years now.

You want to try this recipe. You MUST try this recipe. Try this recipe and you will jettison all other chocolate chip cookie recipes. Nay, you will forget you ever used any other chocolate chip cookie recipe. Revisionist history comes in handy sometimes.

1 Cup Butter (equal to two sticks. I know it's a ridiculous amount. Put it in anyway. And DO NOT underany circumstances even THINK about substituting margarine or shortening. The gods will strike you dead if you even try. Plus your cookies will be ruined. So there.)

2 oz. Cream Cheese

2 Cups Brown Sugar, packed

2 Cups Granulated Sugar

1 Cup Vegetable Oil (yes, a whole cup. I told you these were evil.)

3 Eggs

2 Tbsp. Vanilla (that's not a typo. Two Tablespoons.)

5 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 Cups Rolled Oats (quick or regular)

2 Cups Nuts, chopped (optional if you have not yet ascended the holy mountain of nut worship. Keep this failure to yourself if you want to be my friend.)

I make this recipe in my 5 qt Kitchen Aid Stand mixer. After adding the oatmeal, I detach the stainless steel bowl from the stand and use a heavy duty long handled spoon to mix in the chocolate chips by hand.

If mixed with the mixer, they just cluster at the bottom and cause seven kinds of trouble. And I don't like trouble. Not even one kind.

I personally don't add nuts because I have several anti-nutty-lehis in my household. I'm working on converting them, but moral and spiritual mentoring is a tricky and long term project. They'll come around eventually.

I love this little cookie scooper.

It makes the cookies just the right size and they come out perfectly round and uniform. And then when you take them to your neighbors, they gasp and exclaim "How did you make them all the same size?!" (Name that movie.) But what they're really thinking is that you are far superior to them and what would be the best way to worship this divine creature?

Space them 3 inches apart on the greased cookie sheet.

Many thanks to Karianne acting as my hand model in these pictures.

Bake in a 375 degree oven just until cookies begin to brown. In my oven, that takes 8-9 minutes on the top rack. I use Air-Bake brand pans for cookies to avoid burning the bottoms, but if you use only the top rack you should be fine with a single layer cookie sheet. When cookies are done, remove cookie sheet from oven and let sit for a minute before transferring them to the cooling rack. They should be somewhat crispy on the top and bottom, yet still chewy on the inside. If they're not chewy inside, you cooked them too long.

This recipe makes 4-5 dozen cookies, depending on the size you make them. If you don't need that kind of temptation around, you can freeze a portion of the cookie dough in balls on the cookie sheet, and then transfer to a ziploc freezer bag for later snacking... er, baking.

Now go make these cookies and take some to your favorite neighbor. You know, the one with the boat you'd like to borrow.

Uhhhh. Wal-Mart? I honestly don't remember. It's cheap. I'm sure you could get one at Sonoma Williams or Crate and Barrel or some other snobby kitchen gadget store. Pampered Chef probably has them. I just got mine one day at the store - totally an impulse purchase.

I learned a little secret about the nuts. My family is the same and I am a nut freak so I like to roll my cookies in chopped pecans. That way, you can see the nuts and stay away if you don't like them and I get a cookie rolled in pecans...YUMMY. I can't believe I don't know the movie. It sounds Nacho Libreish but I don't recall it in the movie. You are Napoleon fans so it could be that. Am I close?

What is with the big words? Are you trying to confuse me? Yes I love non-sequiturs. Anything latin is fun. Did you know the word is latin? I bet you didn't. That is because I am a braniac and always use huge latin words to make other people feel inferior.

Oh my goodness, those cookies are divine. I can taste the dough right now. MMMMMMMMMMM. (On account of I can't actually remember I time that I have made them with your lovely daughter and they actually made it to the stove. We always just eat half the dough and freeze the rest for playdates to come.)